Just Add Bacon on Jul 24, 2013 wrote:

OOC: Wow, lucky! It sounds totally awesome! I'm going to have to ask my dad about that. XD (He loves Japanese food, he'd be the first of my family to know where pocky would be available.)

I asked my dad last night at dinner and he said he had never heard of pocky. After I mentioned something Japanese, we began to talk to my mom about everything Japanese that we know of, from the creation of the Ninja in response to the Samurai, to the hand-to-hand combat that the samurai invented, known as ju-jist-su (not sure how to spell that), to the creation of the most powerful sword in the world: the katana. We kept on cutting each other off from our excitement at knowing so much about Japan, eagerly nodding to my mom as if to say 'It's true, I swear!' It was very enjoyable to talk about (although my mom, still eating dinner, looked like she was going to throw up at the ninja's tactics of assassination) and we had a lot of fun last night, thanks to you mentioning pocky. XD You're awesome, Avalon! Thanks!

Just Add Bacon on Jul 25, 2013 wrote:

I asked my dad last night at dinner and he said he had never heard of pocky. After I mentioned something Japanese, we began to talk to my mom about everything Japanese that we know of, from the creation of the Ninja in response to the Samurai, to the hand-to-hand combat that the samurai invented, known as ju-jist-su (not sure how to spell that), to the creation of the most powerful sword in the world: the katana. We kept on cutting each other off from our excitement at knowing so much about Japan, eagerly nodding to my mom as if to say 'It's true, I swear!' It was very enjoyable to talk about (although my mom, still eating dinner, looked like she was going to throw up at the ninja's tactics of assassination) and we had a lot of fun last night, thanks to you mentioning pocky. XD You're awesome, Avalon! Thanks!

(OOc: -blushes- Awww... It's no problem! I love the feeling that comes from knowing I've let someone have a good time. We should really get on topic though, this is Roleplay after all... I don't recollect having renaming it Pocky Discussions. XD)

CdeWinter on Jul 26, 2013 wrote:

OOC: Does Scarlet have to find Emma and Anne sitting in yet another Tea House and midly berate them for getting distracted too easily?

(OOC: *points thumb in Emma's direction* You'll need to take it up with Emma . I'm sure Anne has already finished munching her dumplings, and has been waiting patiently for Emma... and whoever else is going to join us in this tea house (hint, hint!). After all, soon should be revealed if the tea leaves have been tampered with... okay, not if, how the tea leaves have been tampered with...)

Meanwhile below decks…

Bonnie Anne: So has anyone thought of any way we can beat the Armada?

Old Scratch: I and I can curse them with nightmares to rob them of sleep.

Monkey King: They don’t sleep, remember?

Ratbeard: We can poison their food supply.

Sarah Steele: Are you sure you of all rats should be talking about poison?

Rooster Cogburn: Besides, the armadanians, armadites, armadillos… well anyway them don’t eat neither.

Lt Springer: Now what did we say about double negatives?

Subodai: Can we steal their rations?

Gaspard De Vole: The eating thing again.

Shiruku Neko: We could stop in for more kippers at the nearest port.

All: What!?

Shiruku Neko: Just saying…

Catbeard: Now that’s an idea I like, purrrr.

El Toro: We can run them ragged and tire them out, thus defeating them even more easily.

Nurse Quinn: They don’t tire either. Neither gloom nor fog nor dark of night, something like that.

Gracie Conrad: Maybe we can make it rain and they’ll rust.

There was silence for a couple of moments, then “Nah!” was the general consensus.

Stormy Sky: Are you going to eat that?

Bonnie Anne: We should probably just keep bashing them one by one the way we’ve been going about it all along.

“AYE!” came back a resounding chorus.

Just then Virtuous Anne walked down the steps.

Anne: Did I miss anything?

Red Blake Percy

Anne Radcliffe on Jul 29, 2013 wrote:

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Elizabeth," Anne responded politely. "I've heard about you -- all good, I promise," she grinned. She took another bite of dumplings. "And you do make excellent dumplings!"

Anne and Emma informed Elizabeth about the attack and the tea leaves under investigation. "And we are just going to be heading up to the Library of Contemplation to get the references the alchemist needs," Anne finished. "Perhaps you'd like to come with us? I doubt our adventure is going to be over. Something about a place we shouldn't go to that I expect we will," Anne added with an insouiciant grin.

Emma took a stick of Pocky from the box of it she purchased, and placed it in her mouth. "Pocky is so good...." She murmured to herself. "Eh? Oh yea, nice seein' ya." Emma smiled and held out the box, offering a stick of Pocky to Lizzy. "Want some?"

After another happy time at a teahouse, the pirates were refreshed and ready for a hike up the hillside to the Library of Contemplation. Quan-Shi tsked a bit over the quality of Yao Fang's calligraphy, but it was evidently readable enough, for the scrolls and manuscripts requested were found, and with admonishments to be careful of them and bring them back when finished, the party trouped over to the apothecary's shop.

Yao Fang was pleased to see the library materials, and the youthful pirates found themselves ignored while the apothecary studied the various documents and compared them with his notes and various residues of his experiments with the leaves. They amused themselves by talking quietly, so as not to disturb the master at his work, while they waited.

Just Add Bacon on Jul 30, 2013 wrote:

Is Lizzy apart of this group, or still at the Tea House?

[OOC: I am assuming that Elizabeth could not resist the lure of adventure and has joined us, yes... though you can enter a different way, if you wish. However, my casual assumptions are that you are in on the present revelations...]

Yao Fang finally pushed the scrolls and manuscripts aside, and smoothed out his notes before him. "A most interesting case," he opened. "You probably suspected the tea was poisoned, and it is. However, it was done with great subtlety -- if it were not a poisoner, I would consider the work admirable."

"The first poison I detected with the flame test was arsenic. Although the amount of arsenic in the leaves was very low, those who continually drank the tea would build up enough of the poison to make them chronically ill, and repeated use might well be enough to kill. Also present was small amounts of Datura -- probably the slightly bitter taste you perceived, Emma-san. Here in Mooshu physicians may use Datura to humanely anaesthetize patients for surgery, but it has to be done carefully, as a fatal dose is not far from a medicinal one. The dose here would be slight, but probably enough for the tea drinker to experience hallucinations -- this on top of the delirium and illness the arsenic would produce."

"In addition, I detected the soporific Lotus, also henbane - which would have similar effects to the Datura, and cause heart problems beside, as well as several other, lesser plant poisons. All these, again, at very low doses, so that the tea drinker at first would suffer no ill effects. One would think this was enough, but I also found the residue of some magical interference, for which I needed these texts you borrowed to decipher. In sum, however, whoever produced this tea means it to incapacitate the minds and debilitate the bodies of those who drink it. Since you say this tea was especially intended for export to Marleybone, I would venture to say that the tea is intended to have a greatly weakening, devastating effect on the Marleybonean population."

Anne Radcliffe on Jul 31, 2013 wrote:

[OOC: I am assuming that Elizabeth could not resist the lure of adventure and has joined us, yes... though you can enter a different way, if you wish. However, my casual assumptions are that you are in on the present revelations...]

Yao Fang finally pushed the scrolls and manuscripts aside, and smoothed out his notes before him. "A most interesting case," he opened. "You probably suspected the tea was poisoned, and it is. However, it was done with great subtlety -- if it were not a poisoner, I would consider the work admirable."

"The first poison I detected with the flame test was arsenic. Although the amount of arsenic in the leaves was very low, those who continually drank the tea would build up enough of the poison to make them chronically ill, and repeated use might well be enough to kill. Also present was small amounts of Datura -- probably the slightly bitter taste you perceived, Emma-san. Here in Mooshu physicians may use Datura to humanely anaesthetize patients for surgery, but it has to be done carefully, as a fatal dose is not far from a medicinal one. The dose here would be slight, but probably enough for the tea drinker to experience hallucinations -- this on top of the delirium and illness the arsenic would produce."

"In addition, I detected the soporific Lotus, also henbane - which would have similar effects to the Datura, and cause heart problems beside, as well as several other, lesser plant poisons. All these, again, at very low doses, so that the tea drinker at first would suffer no ill effects. One would think this was enough, but I also found the residue of some magical interference, for which I needed these texts you borrowed to decipher. In sum, however, whoever produced this tea means it to incapacitate the minds and debilitate the bodies of those who drink it. Since you say this tea was especially intended for export to Marleybone, I would venture to say that the tea is intended to have a greatly weakening, devastating effect on the Marleybonean population."

Emma's eyes widened. "That's mad. Whoever did that is mad." The blonde sighed. "I'm glad we brought this tea to you then. At least we did Marleybone a favor. What with the war going on, the tea would probably give the Armada the upper hand... Wait a second!"

The other captains turned to face Emma. "Whoever those 'Samoorai' worked for must have either had a grudge against the Marleybonians, or is allianced with the Armada and was ordered to turn the tide on the war. If they weakened the Marleybonians to the point of not being able to fight in the war, the Armada could regain the upper hand. The skirmish between them led to this." The Musketeer shrugged and sheepishly smiled. "Just a theory."

Highlander Fox of ... on Jul 31, 2013 wrote:

I'd imagine she's still part of the group.

~

Emma took a sip of tea from the tea cup she bought at the tea house. She needed the energy anyway. Fighting Samoorai, sailing all over Mooshu and such is tiring. She joined in the low chattering with Anne, Lizzy, and Scarlet.

OOC: I'd like to point out that Scarlet is currently not with the group, after "buying" some interesting ingredients from the apothocary, Scarlet decided that since she was banned from the library for excessive overdue fines (not her fault, the scrolls were destroyed during a ship battle), she would instead wait for the other pirates on Emma's ship. Scarlet is still on Emma's ship probably having a mid afternoon nap in the cabin Emma has lent her.

Highlander Fox of ... on Aug 3, 2013 wrote:

Emma's eyes lit up. "Th-thanks! I do love mystery books... I pieced the puzzle pieces together and formed the image. The war was the first thing that came to mind, and then I remembered the Armada being the opposing side." She shrugged.

"I think you must be right, Emma," Anne agreed. "That makes sense. So we need to put a stop to it, or the Armada will surely win the war in Marleybone! I think we need to see Egg Foo Yung first. He controls the tea trade to Marleybone right now. If his clients sicken and die from drinking the tea he arranges to smuggle, that would not only be an embarrassment, it would also put an end to his business. At least that would be the argument I would use to convince him to stop purchase of this 'new plantation' tea and destroy existing stocks."

"Then we would need to go quickly to their poison factory or whatever set-up they have and destroy it before they realize their plot has been discovered and move their base of operations. And we already know what and where it is, since we have been warned against it! We will need to move against the Pavilion of Eternal Serenity, near Hirayama."

Anne made a face. "Eternal Serenity, ugh, indeed," she added reflectively. "Someone had an unpleasant sense of humor." Then her face cleared into an eager, dangerous look. "Let's go find Scarlet, and tell her what's going on. And for that 'Pavilion of Eternal Serenity', I'm thinking something on the order of well-placed explosives."

Anne Radcliffe on Aug 5, 2013 wrote:

"I think you must be right, Emma," Anne agreed. "That makes sense. So we need to put a stop to it, or the Armada will surely win the war in Marleybone! I think we need to see Egg Foo Yung first. He controls the tea trade to Marleybone right now. If his clients sicken and die from drinking the tea he arranges to smuggle, that would not only be an embarrassment, it would also put an end to his business. At least that would be the argument I would use to convince him to stop purchase of this 'new plantation' tea and destroy existing stocks."

"Then we would need to go quickly to their poison factory or whatever set-up they have and destroy it before they realize their plot has been discovered and move their base of operations. And we already know what and where it is, since we have been warned against it! We will need to move against the Pavilion of Eternal Serenity, near Hirayama."

Anne made a face. "Eternal Serenity, ugh, indeed," she added reflectively. "Someone had an unpleasant sense of humor." Then her face cleared into an eager, dangerous look. "Let's go find Scarlet, and tell her what's going on. And for that 'Pavilion of Eternal Serenity', I'm thinking something on the order of well-placed explosives."

"Hop on the Valiant Glory." She received stares, as they had come here on her Mooshu Galleon. "What? I picked up upgrades for it a little while ago. Now we can head back to Khotan on it." The blonde meandered toward her ship. "Come on!" Her smile didn't fade.

"Eternal Serenity alright." Emma snickered as she walked along.

CdeWinter on Aug 7, 2013 wrote:

The sound of Anne and Emma (and anybody else) boarding the ship woke Scarlet up from her well diserved nap. Since they would soon be under way Scarlet sauntered up to the deck of Emma's ship looking for the other girls.

"So, I'm assuming that the apothocist and the scrolls confirmed that the teas is poisoned? Scarlet asked the group as she walked up to them. "And now I'm assuming that were are going to have a quick visit with Egg Foo Yung since he currently runs the tea trade, followed by a lovely trip to the Pavilion of Eternal Serenity? By the way I have been working on some really nice explosives that I think might come in handy."

Scarlet then turned and tipped her tricorne to Lizzie, "Salute Lizzie, I don't think I've seen you since my last visit to the library here. I'm sorry if the mess I caused disturbed you learning in any way."

"Hey Scarlet. Yea, it's poisoned alright. I have a theory that this "Samoorai" is allianced with the Armada in some way and has orders to mess up the tea trade and wipe out the majority of Marleybonians." Emma explained. "And spot-on guess, by the way." Emma then offered a high five to Scarlet. "I have myself some dynamite and I think a crate of gelignite downstairs."

"Captain, what were ye thinking when you brought that stuff? The lower deck is somewhat flammable!" Bonnie warned. "Any cannonballs could blow it up."

"Did I mention I have it in a metal, incombustible crate inside a closet with inflammable protection?" Emma snickered. "Besides, here's our chance to get rid of it."